jdodson gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
jdodson gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
When the Super Nintendo Classic released last year one game people thought was missing was Square's classic RPG Chrono Trigger. I agree with that thought but the SNES Classic's inclusion of Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy VI, Earthbound and Super Mario RPG really give the SNES Classic the best of breed RPG's of that generation. All that said, Chrono Trigger is one of those games I missed playing as it came out later in the Super Nintendo's lifecycle. I put it on my list of games to play in 2018 and recently started it and I'm going to write about how that's going from time to time until I beat it.

"A chance encounter amid the festivities of Guardia's Millennial Fair in Leene Square introduces our young hero, Crono, to a girl by the name of Marle.

Deciding to explore the fair together, the two soon find themselves at an exhibition of the Telepod, the latest invention by Crono's longtime friend Lucca.
"

After only a couple hours playing Chrono Trigger I understand why this game is one of the most beloved RPG games of the Super Nintendo Era. Released after Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger is a game made at the height of "Square in peak RPG creation mode." The game feels like it's a mashup of the best parts of Secret of Mana and the Final Fantasy series that goes an entirely new direction with a fresh world and characters. Chrono Trigger keeps the top down overworld of Final Fantasy VI but goes a bit of a different direction graphically as it's not in the Super Nintendo's mode 7. Chrono Trigger borrows some fighting elements from Secret of Mana but pulls it together in the same turn based battle system from Final Fantasy.

The music from Chrono Trigger was co-written by Nobuo Uematsu who worked on the music for Final Fantasy VI. Just like most other aspects of Chrono Trigger the music feels like a best of breed 16-bit square game but also goes it's own direction as to not be mimicry. In fact i'd say the music really tips the game into something very special and I can see why fans find it so compelling.

So far i've been taking my time moving through the game and talking to people in the world while exploring as much of it I can before moving on. I'm also spending a bit more time level and gold grinding for fun and to be prepared for boss and dungeon encounters. So far it feels like i'm in the intro to the game so nothing is terribly difficult but i'm feeling out the game systems, learning what tech combos to use and the general flow of the battle system.

One cool part about playing Chrono Trigger for the first time in 2018 is that i've never played it before so I am playing it entirely fresh, something I wish I could do with other games like Secret of Mana or Link to the Past. The game holds up very well and at no point during my playthrough so far did the game feel antiquated or boring. In fact, I really understand why people rank this game so high and i'm glad I decided to pick this up when I did. Since Super Nintendo carts of Chrono Trigger sell upwards of $150 I decided to pickup the DS version and i'm playing that on my 3DS. It's a good version that pulls in a newer translation than the SNES version with some extra content but keeps the graphics and music of the original SNES version.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 01/09/2018 at 06:34am

I got into Chrono Trigger around 2001 or so. I still have the Playstation copy. It's a good game, I enjoyed it. There are a variety of things to do and different endings, I believe.

Travis   Admin wrote on 01/09/2018 at 04:22pm

I have that PS version as well. I barely played it at the time, I need to get back to it at some point. I find that I have problems keeping interest older JRPGs that I don’t have a nostalgic connection with, but there are some classics like this that I feel like I’m missing out on because of that.

Azurephile   Super Member wrote on 01/09/2018 at 09:24pm

LOL @Travis Chrono Trigger reminds me of our time at RU. I remember playing the game while I was Jake's roommate in Tyler Hall.

jdodson   Admin   Post Author wrote on 01/10/2018 at 04:02am

So far the game has been more fun than i'd have thought and the set pieces are really well done. I don't want to spoil anything but there isn't much downtime between really cool stuff that happens, interesting boss fights or story beats that keep you interested in the game. I've been playing it more since I wrote the article and it just keeps going and keeping the game interesting. It feels like a 90's era RPG but doesn't suffer from it at all.

Timogorgon   Member wrote on 01/10/2018 at 10:44pm

I played Chrono Trigger back on the SNES when it was pretty brand new, as well as the PS1 re-release and the DS version. If the DS is your first experience with the game then that's actually a really great way to experience it for the first time. It's a great re-release and the added content is all optional/mostly end game stuff that does not affect the original experience. The only changes I can remember outside of the new content was an updated UI to accommodate the two screens on the DS and they added the animated cut scenes from the PS1 version.

Uematsu worked on a few tracks, but most of the music is by Yasunori Mitsuda, who is another phenomenal composer. He most recently contributed a song to Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ignis (one of the DLC).

jdodson   Admin   Post Author wrote on 01/11/2018 at 03:20am

> they added the animated cut scenes from the PS1 version.

Which aren't awesome and sort of break you out of the game in a bad way. So far that's my only complaint and it's something they added to the game when they really didn't need to.

THEY RUINED MY IMMERSION! http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/e8/e85ca29d88d3c26841f5752330123d3a4278828505527d747d80613c957bbb1f.jpg

I also read that they changed Frog's dialect to NOT be as thick which is a bummer because I do remember him having his dialog be a bit more silly than that. I played a handful of hours on the SNES version but I had to give it back to my friend and never spent more than a bit actually playing it.

Bina wrote on 03/12/2018 at 06:39pm

This game is ranked my number 1 favorite of all time. I'm glad you are enjoying it as well. It's got a lot of little bits at the end to keep you hunting.
What's your progress? At this stage in the game, who are you playing with?

jdodson   Admin   Post Author wrote on 03/13/2018 at 03:46am

Chrono, Robo and Frog. I really like that combination a lot.

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